New Gins Unlike Anything Grandpa Quaffed

By Richard C. Morais

I was recently at Rub BBQ , a lip-smacking rib shack on 23rd street in New York, and fell back in love with the gin martini. Rub’s house martini adds smoked-olive steeped Vermouth and a spear of olives smoked in the restaurant’s own smokers, creating a deliciously savory drink that slides dangerously down the gullet. So it got me wondering. What’s new in the gin scene? Seems like vital intelligence to have as we head into summer lawn parties. So here’s Penta’s frontline dispatch from intrepid researcher, Christiana Cefalu. I hope you enjoy her lively account as much as I did. Makes me want to become totally gin-addled:

Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, Harry Crane and Paul Kinsey walk into mine. Well, at least the actors Rich Sommer and Michael Gladis who play the Mad Men characters, that is. But I’m in a fictional mood as I sit in Bathtub Gin, Chelsea’s new prohibition style speakeasy hidden behind the wall of a coffee shop.

Warm light from tasseled lamp shades spreads across low tin ceilings. I sip The Sicilian, an invigorating blend of Plymouth gin, Campari, orange bitters, and citruses in a highball glass. Crane is wearing his thick black frames and Kinsey’s raised eyebrow matches his rubbery smirk. When I receive a beeping notification on my iPhone to FaceTime with my sister, I am momentarily disoriented, unsure what era I am in.

This is one of a handful of gin-focused bars that have popped up in New York. Its name, Bathtub Gin, hints at the reason the liquor emerged from the prohibition with a bad reputation – the moonshine made many drinkers go blind. Vodka eventually overtook gin as the default alcohol of choice, and in more recent years has, of course, saturated the market with constant re-flavorings, like whipped cream and jalapeño. Meanwhile, gin has patiently been nursing its drink at the bar, the quiet sibling in the clear spirit family, until now.

When we think of gin, most of us are recalling London Dry gin—made from ethyl alcohol, it is flavored with herbs and botanicals like orange peel and coriander seed, but primarily infused with the strong-tasting juniper-berry. It was created by the English when they tried to replicate Dutch Genever during war-time. Old Tom, Sloe, and Plymouth are other “categories”, but by far most gins adhere to the classic London Dry tradition. The trouble is, if you don’t like the pine taste of juniper, it’s safe to say you won’t like gin.

The cocktail renaissance of the past decade or so has brought with it a new appreciation for the martini, the Aviation, and Tom Collins, classic drinks where gin is the base. Suddenly, there’s a higher premium set on fresh, local ingredients – no factory-made bottled juices and artificial syrups, thank you — and more mixologist craftsmanship. Since gin is a pretty basic ingredient, it, too, is getting a remake.

While cities like Brooklyn, Portland, San Francisco, and Seattle aren’t entirely reinventing the gin wheel, while leading the charge in craft distilleries, they are distilling the spirits with local ingredients so a unique local brand identity can emerge. This new generation of spirits-entrepreneurs is also reviving gin for good commercial reasons: the clear juice doesn’t require aging so there’s no delay in recouping startup cost.

New Western Dry is the unofficial new “category” of gin coined in 2006 by Ryan Magarian, Co-Founder of Portland’s Aviation Gin. The way Magarian sees it, the recent “balanced” gins from both large brand houses and the craft distillers have allowed gin to take some market share from the new vodkas. They do so by countering the sharp taste of juniper with softer tastes from supporting herbs and botanicals, ultimately reaching a gin that doesn’t polarize drinkers into love or hate camps.

Tanqueray began this shift in No. Ten, a gin that turned up the volume on fruit essences. Then came tea-infused Beefeater 24, with its hint of Japanese Sencha tea; and spicy Bombay Sapphire East, infused with lemongrass; and rosy Hendrick’s, tasting of cucumber. The list goes on and on.

I sampled Magarian’s Aviation gin at Vandaag, a Northern European outpost in the East Village. The Ten Cent Pistol – named after the Black Keys’ song—includes elderflower, Pernod Absinthe, and Thai basil in a tall glass of milky, seafoam green. It’s a clean, refreshing vacation drink based on a savory, lavender-noted New Western Dry gin available all over the country. Gin traditionalists need to get their head around the fact these new gins are everywhere – and will probably get snuck into your dry martini.

In addition to the New Westerns, keep an eye out for small batch artisanal gin, the safe, 21st century version of bathtub gin. In the last five years, the number of craft distilleries around the country has increased ten-fold. Brooklyn Gin, for example, is just two guys peeling citrus and cracking juniper berries. “We’re hiring our first employee tomorrow,” says one of the founders. I tried their fresh “citrus-forward” gin at Madam Geneva, perhaps the city’s best known gin bar. The bar’s take on the classic French 75 (a gin and Champagne drink first made in Paris in 1915) mixes Brooklyn Gin with rosewater, lemon, and pomegranate, to create a bubbly, youthful drink.

But fear not, purists. There are new spirits to excite the gin-loving palate that haven’t strayed too far from the London tradition. My favorite among them is Oxley, which uses their own, patented cold distillation process to preserve, they claim, the molecular structure of the spirit’s botanicals. This makes for strikingly fresh, not toasty, notes of lemon and aniseed, nuances noticeable when the dry liquor vaporizes in the mouth.

New York Distilling Company recently released Perry’s Tot Navy Strength Gin. At 57% alcohol by volume, it’s “the historical proof at which gunpowder might still be fired should it unfortunately be soaked by spilled spirit.” This tipple is not for the faint of heart; before the heat kicks in, look for a faint honey and cinnamon taste. For the most authentic experience, try it at The Shanty, the bar adjacent to and run by the distillery.

For those who have wrinkled their noses at their first taste in gin, and never gone back, now is the time to give gin a second swig. You might be a gin drinker but just don’t know it yet. And for crusty-types who like their dry gin just the way it is, thank you very much, the old standbys are always there, ready to be shaken, not stirred.

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